Commisary Purchaser (Senior)

Z Global Gourmet Food Corporation; Pasig; On-site; PHP 446,000 - 781,000; Full time

Job summary

Apéritif in Metro Manila seeks a seasoned Commissary Purchaser to source ingredients, packaging and supplies for eight branches. You will negotiate, track costs and report, using spreadsheets and AI tools to optimize landed costs and ensure no stockouts.

You bring at least 5 years in purchasing within cafés, bakeries or restaurant groups, with strong knowledge of Metro Manila suppliers and a hands-on operations background. Fluency in English and Filipino preferred.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years in purchasing or procurement, with 3+ years in F&B.
• Hands-on café or F&B operations background.
• Strong working knowledge of Metro Manila suppliers and markets.
• Proven record of cutting purchase costs with measurable results.
• Solid grasp of food costing: recipe costing, yield and margin.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivots).
• Experience with inventory/ERP systems (e.g. Odoo, QuickBooks, Xero, MOSAIC).
• Comfortable using AI tools for research, analysis and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Purchasing and supply: buy commissary and branch requirements, convert plans to POs with no stockouts.
• Supplier management: maintain two sources per item, obtain quotations and negotiate terms.
• Cost tracking and reporting: maintain logs, price movements and weekly spend reports.
• Costing and pricing: update costs in recipe costing sheets and assess new items.
• Inventory and receiving: manage par levels, FIFO and monthly counts.
• Systems and compliance: run purchasing in inventory/POS, ensure AI-assisted reporting and food safety documents.

Skills

Purchasing experience

F&B knowledge

Excel/Sheets

Negotiation

Cost analysis

Supply chain

Vendor management

Food safety awareness

Bilingual English/Filipino

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Excel or Sheets

Inventory/ERP systems

AI tools awareness

POS systems

Job description

The Commissary Purchaser buys every ingredient, packaging item and supply that keeps Apéritif's commissary and eight branches running. The role exists to get the right quality at the lowest landed cost, on time, every time. It is a direct lever on our COGS target of 30% of sales.

We want someone who already knows the Metro Manila supplier market, has worked inside a café or F&B operation, and treats every peso spent as traceable. You will negotiate, track, cost and report, using spreadsheets, inventory software and AI tools to do it faster than a manual buyer could.

Key responsibilities

Purchasing and supply

• Buy all commissary and branch requirements: dairy, butter, flour, chocolate, produce, proteins, dry goods, beverages, packaging and cleaning supplies.
• Turn production plans and par levels into weekly and daily purchase orders, with no stockouts and no overbuying.
• Run wet-market and wholesale buying (e.g. Balintawak, Divisoria, Farmers Market Cubao, Nepa Q-Mart) where it beats supplier pricing on quality and cost.
• Handle urgent and same-day buys for branches without breaking the approval process.

Supplier management and negotiation

• Maintain an approved supplier list with at least two qualified sources for every critical item (butter, cream, flour, coffee, chocolate, eggs).
• Request and compare quotations at least quarterly; negotiate price, payment terms, volume discounts, free delivery and rebates.
• Build relationships with importers, distributors and local producers across Metro Manila, and keep scouting new and cheaper sources.
• Rate suppliers monthly on price, quality, on-time delivery and order accuracy; eliminate and replace poor performers.

Cost tracking and reporting

• Keep a clean, up-to-date purchase log: every PO, invoice, delivery receipt and payment matched and filed.
• Maintain an item price master and flag any price increase above 5% within 24 hours, with a recommended action.
• Submit a weekly purchasing report to the Commissary Head and Finance: spend by category, price movements, savings achieved, open issues.
• Support month-end closing and the COGS audit with accurate, reconciled purchase data.

Costing and pricing

• Update ingredient costs in recipe costing sheets whenever prices change, and show the effect on food cost per menu item.
• Cost new R&D dishes, seasonal items, gift boxes and B2B packages before launch.
• Recommend substitutions, pack sizes or suppliers that protect margin without lowering quality.

Inventory and receiving

• Work with the commissary storekeeper on receiving checks: quantity, quality, temperature, expiry and specs against the PO.
• Help set and review par levels, reorder points and safety stock for the commissary and branches.
• Reduce spoilage and waste through FIFO, right-sized orders and shelf-life planning.
• Join monthly physical inventory counts and explain variances.

Systems, AI and compliance

• Run purchasing in our inventory / POS system and spreadsheets; keep item codes, units and conversions accurate.
• Use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or similar) to compare quotes, summarise price trends, draft supplier emails and build reports faster.
• Make sure suppliers meet food safety standards (FDA LTO, product registration, proper cold chain) and keep their documents on file.
• Follow the company's approval limits, no-kickback policy and conflict-of-interest rules at all times.

Qualifications

Must have

• At least 5 years in purchasing or procurement, with 3+ years in F&B: cafés, bakeries, patisseries, restaurant groups or a central kitchen / commissary.
• Hands-on café or F&B operations background, so you understand production, prep yields and what branches actually need.
• Strong working knowledge of Metro Manila suppliers and markets: importers, dairy and baking distributors, produce traders, packaging makers and wet markets.
• Proven record of cutting purchase costs, with numbers you can show us.
• Solid grasp of food costing: recipe costing, yield and trim loss, unit conversions, food cost % and margin.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets: VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, price trackers.
• Experience with at least one inventory, POS or ERP system (e.g. Odoo, QuickBooks, Xero, MOSAIC, StockTake or similar).
• Comfortable using AI tools for research, analysis and reporting.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Hospitality / HRM, Culinary or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Nice to have

• Experience buying for a multi-branch brand with a central commissary.
• Familiarity with imported baking and pastry ingredients (European butter, couverture chocolate, specialty flours).
• Food safety training (FSSC, HACCP or a Food Safety Compliance Officer certificate).

Skills and competencies

• Negotiation: firm but fair; gets better terms without hurting supplier relationships.
• Organisation: keeps records clean enough that anyone in Finance can trace a peso from PO to payment.
• Numbers sense: spots a price jump or a cost-per-gram error at a glance.
• Quality judgment: knows good butter, cream, produce and chocolate by sight, smell and spec.
• Ownership: treats stockouts and overspending as personal problems to fix, not to report.
• Integrity: zero tolerance for kickbacks, padding or favouritism.
• Communication: clear in English and Filipino with suppliers, chefs, branch managers and Finance.
• Agility: handles rush orders, price spikes and supplier failures calmly.
• Tech-forward mindset: looks for ways to automate tracking and reporting instead of doing it by hand.